Penn State wrestling's quest for World Championships domination starts this weekend in Greece

UPDATE: Penn State commit Jayden James will wrestle for U17 gold on Sunday. Click here to see his Saturday results.

Original story:

Penn State wrestling Class of 2026 commit Jayden James will compete this weekend for Team USA at the U17 World Championships in Athens, Greece. It’s the first of four age-group World tournaments that will be contested between now and October. And, by the time it is all said and done, a lot of competitors connected to the Nittany Lions could be coming home with International hardware.

James holds the 71-kilogram (156.5 pounds) spot on his country’s U17 men’s freestyle team. It is competing at Worlds in Athens, Greece. Half of the men’s freestyle weights will wrestle Friday and Saturday for gold. The other half, including James’, compete Saturday and Sunday. The Delbarton, N.J., School junior is the reigning 150-pound champ in the Garden State. He also claimed U17 Pan-American Championships gold in Greco-Roman and freestyle earlier this summer while preparing for this freestyle opportunity.

“James gets a stiff test in his opener against 2025 U17 European bronze medalist Koba Goguadze of Georgia,” Justin Hoch writes for USA Wrestling.

The opening matches of the 71-kilogram U17 World Championships men’s freestyle division will start at 3:30 a.m. ET on Saturday.

Which other Penn State connections are competing for World Championships this year?

The list is long. It includes a number of current Penn State wrestlers — from incoming freshmen to seniors — in addition to members of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. We have the complete rundown below:

World Wrestling Championships (Sept. 13 – 21 in Zagreb, Croatia)

PSU ties on Team USA include incoming freshman PJ Duke (70 kilograms), senior Levi Haines (79 kilograms), and NLWC member Kyle Snyder (97 kilograms)

U23 World Wrestling Championships (Oct. 20-26 in Serbia)

Penn State ties include:

57 kg – Luke Lilledahl (St. Charles, Mo./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

65 kg – Marcus Blaze (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg WC/Titan Mercury WC)

70 kg – PJ Duke (Slate Hill, N.Y./KD Training Center)

74 kg – Mitchell Mesenbrink (Bellefonte, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

79 kg – Levi Haines (Arendtsville, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

86 kg – Rocco Welsh (Fredericktown, Pa./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

92 kg – Josh Barr (Davison, Mich./Nittany Lion WC/Titan Mercury WC)

U20 World Wrestling Championships (Aug. 14-18 in Bulgaria)

PSU ties include incoming freshmen Marcus Blaze (61 kilograms), PJ Duke (70 kilograms), and William Henckel (79 kilograms), plus redshirt freshmen Connor Mirasola (92 kilograms), and Cole Mirasola (125 kilograms)